Team Dresch
is an American punk band that performed and recorded in the 1990s and made a significant impression on the DIY punk movement queercore, as well as on the independent music scene. The band reformed in the early 2000s and continues to perform.
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TEAM DRESCH TICKETS
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History
Beginnings
Establishment
Donna Dresch, founder of the band, had been involved in the queercore scene in the late 1980s and early 1990s as creator of her own
fanzine Chainsaw
and, in addition to contributing to other zines such as
Outpunk
and
J.D.s
, she contributed to and was featured on the cover of issue five of
Homocore
and appeared in the girl-gang film
The Yo-Yo Gang
by
G.B. Jones.
First album line-up
The line up of the group for its first album was Donna Dresch, guitar and bass;
Jody Bleyle, guitar, bass, and vocals;
Kaia Wilson, guitar and vocals; and Marci Martinez on drums. All were veterans of other musical outfits; Donna Dresch had previously played and recorded with such bands as
Dinosaur Jr., Dangermouse (not to be confused with
Danger Mouse (TV Series)),
Screaming Trees, Rastro!,
Fifth Column,
Some Velvet Sidewalk,
Lois,
Mary Lou Lord and
The Go Team; Jody Bleyle was simultaneously in the bands
Hazel and Lovebutt while playing in Team Dresch; Kaia Wilson had been in the band
Adickdid and Marci Martinez in Calamity Jane (a band, not the singer of the same name). Scott Plouf, then of
The Spinanes, now of
Built to Spill was the drummer on the first 7". "Hand Grenade" appeared on
Kill Rock Stars in 1994.
Personal Best
(1994)
Personal Best
appeared in January 1995 as a co-release on the
independent labels Chainsaw Records, run by Dresch and
Candy Ass Records, run by Bleyle.
Washington Post
writer Chris Richards called
Personal Best
"a fiery, all-but-forgotten punk masterpiece that sealed the gap between
Sonic Youth's pop leanings and
Superchunk's noisier fare."
[1] Candy-Ass then released the compilation
Free to Fight
, a double LP of
all-women bands addressing issues such as
harassment and
rape and dedicated to self-defense. The band toured with self-defense instructor Alice Stagg, who spoke and gave demonstrations to the audience prior to the band's performance. The members were committed to a
DIY ethic, running their own record labels and booking their own tours.
Captain My Captain
(1996)
On their second recording drummer
Melissa York, previously of the
hardcore punk bands
Vitapup and
Born Against, replaced Marci Martinez. This LP,
Captain My Captain
, released in 1996, also featured a guest appearance by
Phranc, well known
lesbian musician. The song "Uncle Phranc", written as a tribute to Phranc, appears on this album.
Original disbandment and side projects
After
Captain My Captain
, Kaia Wilson and Melissa York left the band to form
The Butchies, while Dresch and Bleyle continued recording with the addition of new member Amanda Kelly and with Marci Martinez once again on drums. The band stopped playing in 1998, with Dresch increasingly involved in running her record label which was releasing many recordings by newer Queercore bands, including
The Need,
Longstocking and
Sleater-Kinney. Marci Martinez went on to play in
The Vegas Beat.
In 2002, Jody debuted a new band,
Family Outing, which includes her brother, Allen, and in 2004, Donna returned to the stage with a new band,
Davies vs. Dresch. They appeared as part of "Queercore Blitz", a group of queer bands touring the U.S together.
Reunion
In the summer of 2004, Jody, Donna, Kaia, Marci and Melissa came together to headline the homocore festival
Homo-a-Go-Go
in Olympia, Washington. In the summer of 2006, the same members played shows in the Northwest,
New York City,
San Francisco, California,
Los Angeles, California and
Chicago and continue to tour. A review of a June, 2007 show in
Washington, D.C. quoted a fan as saying "You sound so much better now!"
Discography
Albums
- Personal Best
, a Chainsaw Records/ Candy Ass Records co-release (1994)
- Captain My Captain
, Chainsaw/Candy Ass (1995)
Singles
- Hand Grenade
on Kill Rock Stars
- Take On Me
on Banda Bonnet
- What Can A Lover Do?
, a split 7" with F-80, Shove and Dahlia Seed on Marigold Records
- It's A Conversation
, a split 7" with Longstocking on Sub Pop
- Temporary Insurance
, a split 7" with Automaticons on Metal Monkey Records
- The New Team Dresch v.6.0 Beta
on Outpunk Records
Songs in compilations
- "Fake Fight" on Periscope
, Yoyo Recordings (1993)
- "Song For Anne Bannon" on Free to Fight
, a Chainsaw Records/Candy Ass Records co-release (1996)
- "She's Amazing" on Yoyo a Go Go
, Yoyo Recordings
- "Seven" on Rock Stars Kill
, Kill Rock Stars
- "Hand Grenade" on Some Songs
, Kill Rock Stars
- "Deattached" on Join The Queercorps
, Outpunk Records
- "Fake Fight" and "My Voice" on The Shiner Cassette
, Slo-Mo Records
Trivia
- In 1996, the influential German band Tocotronic paid homage to Team Dresch with their song "Die Sache mit der Team-Dresch-Platte" ("The Thing about the Team Dresch record"), eventually contributing to the popularity of Team Dresch in Germany.
- The band performs and is interviewed in the documentary film She's Real, Worse Than Queer
by Lucy Thane.
- Lesbians on Ecstasy remixed Team Dresch's song "Screwing Yer Courage" as "Summer Luv". Jody Bleyle remixed this remix of her own song for the Lesbians On Ecstasy record ''Giggles in The Dark".
See also
References
- Team Dresch Digs Deep Into Its Playbook